Jon Payne
Jonathan Michael Payne, Jr. (born on May 27, 1980 in Detroit, MI) is an American professional wrestler best known by his ringname Jon Payne. Payne is currently employed by The League Of Extraordinary Wrestling, and is a member of the LXW RingMasters brand. Career Payne debuted in 2001 after graduating from Riot's training academy, The Skool Of Hardcore and worked mainly for the World Wrestling Association until 2006, when the promotion began to allow it's talent to co-wrestle for other feds. He signed a contract with Virtual Wrestling Entertainment and worked there for the spring into the summer of 2006 before leaving the company after a mutual separation. Several weeks later, Payne signed a contract with his mentor's young promotion, LXW. Phase One Payne came onto the scene of the WWA touted as a young gun. With his wrestling training coupled with black belts in Judo and Karate, he was regarded as one of the promotions best pure athletes, showing a level of versatility that few could match. In a short time, he became one of the most watched and most popular stars in the WWA, noted for his battles against the likes of Sinbad Brown and Gunner Berland to name a few. He was regarded by many to be a "new breed" of heavyweight wrestler, which is where is first nickname stemed from. His biggest "match-up" however was not in the ring though, but out of it. The Payne Syndicate In March 2004, Payne's popularity was at a new high, thanks in part to and on and off camera romance with the then WWA Women's Champion Blaise. She would accompany him to all of his matches as a valet, and Payne himself would soon grow the largest fan base of any WWA wrestler, known affectionately as the "Payne Syndicate" and classfied by wearing a manufactured T-shirt that mimicked the skull tattoo on his chest. Payne's popluarity grew to new heights during a feud with WWA's other top face, "The Saint" David Faith. They would have a match for the WWA Title known as "The Epic" which saw Payne win his first and only WWA Championship (a prize he never truly sought initially having been quoted once that "Titles don't measure a man's skill"). After losing the title in early 2006 to Yoshi Togo, the WWA would unveil an unprecedented new policy that would change the shape of his career. Phase Two This policy allowed active member of the WWA to sign with other promotions in an attempt to prove that their wrestlers were the best. Payne took up on this policy and signed with Ohio based promotion Virtual Wrestling Entertainment in the spring of 2006. Payne quickly became a standout talent within their training promotion WTF, culminated by a feud with Jonny Pyro that stemmed from a short-lived rivalry between him and Riot during his brief stint with the company. This feud would become the definitive one of the year for the WTF and wrestling in general, but never came truly into fruition when the two men were promoted to VWE in the summer. Payne then joined forces with Cabal Xavier and together as "Payne By Dragons" went on to win the VWE Tag Titles after much controversy and ducking red tape. After several months of attempting to work in an environment that was "too much politics", the contractual and creative conflicts grew too great, and Payne relinquished his half of the belts, leaving VWE in July 2006. Phase Three After several weeks of rumors surroundings Payne's departure, he arrived on the scene of the budding LXW promotion in New York, which was already gaining ground. He signed with the promotion to the delight and dismay of many, due in part to his personal relationship to the CEO of the company. Payne's arrivalwas met with much hype and press...which was warranted due to his success in VWE (only losing 2 matches in the promotion), and that success continued to show in LXW. The Streak Upon arriving to LXW, Payne would go on to win every sanctioned match he competed in for the promotion (sanctioned, due to the fact that a backstage brawl at Pantheon to Brent Starr does not count in LXW's record books, simply bragging rights): 1) Triple Threat Tag Match vs. TJ Long and Business 2) PRO Rules Match (No Rope Break or Ring Out) vs. Godlieve Van Der Sar 3) Steel Cage Match vs. Jonny Pyro 4) Steel Cage Match Vs. Ace 5) Singles Match Vs. Blaise Payne 6) 3 Stages Of Hell Match Vs. Fay Anderson Jon Payne also is the host of his own special segment during LXW shows known as "The Straight Shooter". Wrestling Facts *Finishers And Signature Moves PayneKiller (Modified Fireman's Carry Slam) Magnum Driver (Pumphandle Sit-Out Driver) Momentum Killer (Standing Dragon Sleeper) Dropsault (Somersault Dropkick) Crossface Chicken Wing Triple Decker (Three Ground Elbow to sternum) Offensive Barrage (Combination: Ground kicks to ribs, bow & arrow lock, kick to back of head) *Managers Blaise Payne Ms. Mercedes *Nicknames The New Breed The Next Evolution Mr. Momentum Killer "Jon...Freakin'...Payne!" Personal life Payne is currently married to Blaise with no children, and now resides in New York City. His infamous skull chest tattoo, which has because his logo of sorts was actually the result of a dare he lost between a close friend of his, fellow WWA wrestler Brendan Snyder. Payne is a 2nd degree black belt in Shotokan Karate, and a 3rd Degree black belt in Judo. His "Straight Shooter" segment is also aired online through his personal website. When not wrestling, Payne also works as a trainer at The Skool Of Hardcore. Championships and Accomplishments *World Wrestling Association 3-Time WWA Tag Team Champion (2 with Brendan Snyder, 1 with Riot) 2-Time WWA Ironman Champion 1-Time WWA Champion *Virtual Wrestling Entertainment 1-Time VWE Tag Team Champion (with Cabal Xavier)